Tapioca

Tapioca is the starch extracted from cassava root, used mainly in grain-free kibble. It is almost pure carbohydrate. Tufts veterinary nutritionists say cats can digest and metabolize properly cooked carbohydrates, while adult cats have no specific requirement for them. For a cat with diabetes, obesity or another condition, ask your veterinarian how much starch its food should contain.

Source: sites.tufts.edu

Tapioca acts as a binder. In grain-free kibble it provides the starch that lets the dough expand and hold its shape during cooking, in place of rice or corn. Pettings notes that tapioca carries almost no protein, fiber or vitamins, since those parts of the cassava root are removed when the starch is extracted.

No. Tapioca comes from cassava, a tropical root, so it can be used in foods labeled grain-free. Grain-free is not the same as low carbohydrate, though. Pettings notes that some grain-free foods built on tapioca, potato or pea starch contain more carbohydrate than foods made with grains.

Yes. On cat food labels, tapioca, tapioca starch and tapioca flour all refer to the starch extracted from cassava root. Cassava root flour is a different ingredient, made from the whole dried root, and it keeps a little more fiber. Pettings scores both tapioca and cassava root flour 1 out of 5.

Tapioca gets 1 out of 5 from Pettings, which lists it as a starch or refined grain. It shows up on 19 of the 149 dry cat foods we list. Each food's page shows how the whole recipe scores, so one ingredient score is only part of the picture.